An elephant crushes a hunter to death after it is fatally shot

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Harare (CNN)A big game hunter was crushed to death after an elephant, which his friends had fatally shot, collapsed on top of him.

Theunis Botha was out hunting with friends at the Good Luck Farm in Gwayi, Zimbabwe, when they came across a herd of breeding elephants.

"The unfortunate incident happened when the hunting party got in the middle of a breeding herd of elephants and were attacked by female elephants," Nyasha Simukai a spokesman for Zimbabwe National Parks, told CNN.

Simukai said Botha, 51, was killed when colleagues fatally shot an elephant that then fell on top of him. It happened Friday.

Simukai said the hunt, which was set to be held from May 16 to May 27, was legal.

"Theunis embraced his hearts passion and engaged in full time big game hound safaris in and around South Africa, adding private ranches in Zimbabwe and Botswana as new destinations in 1991," read the website.

Journalist Columbus Mavhunga reported from Harare. CNN's James Masters wrote from London. Hillary McGann contributed to this report.